Are bloggers fanatics? Sure, but without them we would have to depend on for-profit newspapers to give us ‘reliable’ news

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Who has time for those rotten bloggers?

I had to chuckle while reading Yvonne Hawkins ‘column’ in the Gargoyle Leader yesterday, she couldn’t resist to take a cheap shot at bloggers (even though the story had to do with the AL’s poor editing skills). Kinda reminded me of Lalley’s column last week where he couldn’t resist to take a potshot at Staggers about the Event Center, even though, Kermit has been the least vocal person about the topic. I think he has pretty much only said this, “Don’t raise taxes to build it.”

Had Steward showed up solely in the world of the blogosphere, he would’ve been just another fanatic fighting for attention in the din of loud rhetoric.

Am I a fanatic, Hell yeah!

–noun

1. a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

But without fanatic bloggers like myself, who would keep the MSM in check? Let’s take the Franken Amendment about rape protections for Federal contractors, Thune voted against it. There wasn’t one single story in the South Dakota MSM media besides a short mention in the Rapid City Journal and a couple of letters to the editor in the Gargoyle Leader (with a letter of defense from one of Thune’s unidentified staffers). The National blogosphere was on fire about the vote. Thune even fired back, blaming bloggers for his vote. (which, what he is really saying is, Damn, I’m busted). This is why bloggers are important. Like I said to mayoral candidate Mike Huether, “I make observations and expect my readers to do further digging.” Do I say crazy shit? Sure. But I do it in hopes you will take the time to look into yourself. I get proven wrong on this site everyday, I’m okay with that, it’s called interactive journalism.

I also find it ironic that Yvonne would show her disdain for bloggers. I have provided the AL with several leads on important stories, a few that are still cooking right now. That’s right Yvonne, me the ‘fanatic’ supplying you content. I could go into detail, but I would rather not, the din of self-flattery might be too loud.

Posted in: Media

Has SF mayoral candidate Pat Costello hired South Dakota’s number one ad agency to assist with his campaign?

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Rumor has it, he has. With over $75,000 in the bank this should come as no surprise that Pat has chosen Lawrence & Schiller as his ad agency. I predicted this awhile back (well because, Sioux Falls municipal politics are as predictable as Joel Rosenthal’s gripes about liberal bloggers), considering one of the founders, Paul Schiller donated to his campaign and one of the current owners, Scott Lawrence also donated to his campaign. That’s how it works at L & S. You donate to campaigns and you get contracts in return (remember the no-bid tourism contracts with the state after giving money to Rounds’ campaign?)

I will say this, L & S has ran many successful state and national campaigns, they have a proven track record.

But mayor of Sioux Falls? LOL!

I can’t wait to see the flashy, slick stuff they produce for Pat, which will turn voters off in an instance. There is a reason why Huether and Staggers are the leading candidates right now, they have taken a grassroots approach and actually decided to ‘TALK TO VOTERS‘. Image that, what a concept? Sioux Falls is still small enough that people know each other, personally, and if you go out and get to know your fellow man, people appreciate it.

Spend all you want Pat avoiding the Joe-Six Pack, it won’t get you elected, but at least Paul and Scott will make a couple of bucks from your attempt.

Posted in: Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Big surprise, tax revenue was down in 2009 . . . not

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This of course is no shocker to me, I have been covering this for over 6 months. Every month finance director Eugene ‘Montgomery Burns’ Rowenhorst would come before the city council and say the same thing, “Uh, yeah, um, we are down, um, but we are watching it closely, um, and we will wait until the Christmas shopping season and we may come out ahead (paraphrasing).” Well it did not happen. The councilors would repeatly ask what cuts were being made and his answer would always be the same (see above). Well no cuts were made, business as usual, now the next mayor and council will have to try to fix the turd sandwich that was created, as Staggers so colorfully pointed out;

“Whoever the new mayor is, this person will have to take a look at the budget right away to see if there is a course correction needed,” Staggers said.

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls

Vernon Brown must be living in a different city then the one I live in

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As president of the SD Municipal league Vernon is promoting the silly 1 cent sales tax increase city option. He had this to say about it on his website;

South Dakota Municipal League will be asking lawmakers for a major philosophical shift: a temporary sales tax option for special projects. The League’s success in unlocking the state’s financial handcuffs on cities will largely come from the effectiveness of your community’s story. In this case, the smaller the town, the bigger the impact will be, especially when it comes to necessary infrastructure. Here are a few things to consider as you develop your local story:

Handcuffs? Besides last year, the city of SF has enjoyed RECORD sales tax revenue. With that much money coming in you would think we would be driving on streets of gold. It is estimated that in just 7 years the city has spent over $100 million on ‘quality of life’ projects. Or as I like to call them ‘wants’. If city leaders would have been a little wiser over those 7 years we could have put millions in the bank to pay for things like an events center, but instead the city engaged in reckless spending, and now they want to continue their spend fest by increasing taxes. I have often commented that people are not against an Events Center, they just want the city to spend within their means and show some fiscal restraint, especially with a project of this magnitude. I hope the 1 cent sales tax increase has a fast death in Pierre.

Councilor Staggers says the solution to building a new events center is simple, don’t do it by increasing taxes;

No increase in the city sales tax. Most City Council members want to raise the sales tax in Sioux Falls to 7% for an events center. This tax increase would take an additional $50 million out of the pockets of citizens and give it to the city government to spend. The citizens would have less money to spend at a time when economists are calling for consumers to spend more money in order to get the economy out of recession. Furthermore, since the sales tax is a very regressive tax, any increase in the sales tax would further impoverish the poor and low income families in the midst of a recession.

No increases in taxes and no annual operating subsidy for a new events center.Common sense and fairness dictate that a new events center should be paid for by those people who use it. Likewise, if you do not use the facility, you should not pay for it. A new events center should only be supported if there are no increases in taxes and no annual operating subsidy.

He also comments on what our current taxes should be paying for;

Increase spending on city streets and highways. The city is playing catch up in its street maintenance program. The city’s promise of the 1980s that the second penny sales tax would be used for streets must be reaffirmed and honored. This means more of the second penny sales tax must be spent on streets and highways.

Posted in: Event Center, Sioux Falls, State Legislature, Vernon Brown

Sioux Falls Municipal Election first financial reports are in . . .

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. . and like a kid in a candy store I have been reading them and looking at contributors. Nothing really glaring, but I encourage you to read them yourself, seems like some people in SF have a lot of money to throw away on wannabe municipal politicians.

Here are the raw numbers (The Gargoyle Leader someone how came up with higher numbers then me);

MAYOR

Pat Costello: $75,496 (his contributor list reads like a who’s who of SF construction and development)

This quote by Pat in the Gargoyle really made me laugh;

“Despite raising the most money in 2009, Costello said he expects to be outspent in the race. His donations came from people of “all walks of life” who he said responded to his leadership as a councilor and businessman.”

Oh yeah? “All walks of life” Well he is telling the truth, except most of those people walk on the wealthier side of life, here is just a few names you may recognize;

Dana Dykhouse (First Premier), Kelby Krabbenhoft (Sanford), Greg and Phyllis Heineman (Skyforce), Jim Soukup (Soukup Construction), Dan Kirby, Peter Hegg, Tim Dougherty, Vance Goldammer (Prominent Republican Lawyer), Rick Lessnau (Sioux Falls McDonalds), Tom Muenster, Scott Lawrence (Lawrence and Schiller), Frank Alvine, Don Dunham, JR. (Dunham Companies), Jim Burma, Bob Correa (Music Service), Tom Walsh (SD Burger King), Larry Canfield, Al Schoeneman (Schoeneman’s), Jeff Schershligt (Cherapa Place), De Knudson (City’s Chief Babbler), Kevin Schieffer (Formerly(?) of DM & E), Paul Schiller (Lawrence and Schiller co-founder, and major pain in my ass)

Bill Peterson: $34,744 (This one surprised me, a little, I didn’t know what to expect, but I never thought it would be that much. Hey, doesn’t Kirby owe you some money for writing that flawed home rule charter for him?)

Mike Huether: $25,000 (this number is a little wishy washy because he did not fill out his final total)

Vernon BrownKnows: $13,000 (I got a good chuckle out of Vernon’s contributor list . . .  sloppy seconds.)

Kermit Staggers: $1,050 (This does not surprise me, and I applaud Kermit for being modest about his campaign, I have often said money is what corrupts campaigns, elections and politicians, I think it would be great if he won mayor and spent the least. Remind me Kermit to cut you a check, BTW.)

Janoct Ajda: $0 (C’mon Janoct, you couldn’t at least get your mom to give you a couple of bucks?)

COUNCIL RACES

Jim Entenman: $15,575 (like I said in my predictions, I know Jim will raise a lot of money, and spend a lot, but doesn’t seem odd that a guy who has NO competitors has fifteen grand in the pot? Still couldn’t but a decent Harley for that)

Bob Christensen: $10,541 (This one surprised me a little, I expected less, but hey, if I ran a barber shop I would have a ‘shake for a contribution’ die.)

Sue Aguilar: $9,620 (no surprise here, Sue is rich, has rich friends, blah, blah, blah)

Michelle Erpenbach: $7,120 (Michelle’s contributor list is a very interesting read, Tom Daschle was one of her contributors, wonder if he wrote in the memo line on the check, “Sorry I voted for that stupid fucking Iraq War .”

Clarence Kooistra: $625

Charles Gaetze: $0

James Milne: $0 (didn’t file)

There was also two PAC’s involved this year. The money they raised is no surprise, but their contribution list is fun to read (SEE BELOW)

SECOND CENTURY PAC (A PAC mostly funded by lawyers. The graphic shows who they contributed to)

2ND-CEN

SIOUX EMPIRE FRIENDS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING (A PAC that promotes affordable housing. I have an idea, stop giving money to politicians and start spending it on affordable housing. The graphic shows who they contributed to)

SEJ

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls Mayor Race